


In The Nick Of Time

by FujiRouge



Series: Of Greens and Gold [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crushes, Honestly I just wanted Tomarry to reenact that iconic upside down kiss, M/M, Saving, Spiderman AU, Suicide, Tom as MJ (kind of), no one has done it yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25931215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FujiRouge/pseuds/FujiRouge
Summary: "Good to know you're keeping count," Tom said, tone joking as his eyes glinted in amusement, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say I have a superhero stalker following me around."Featuring Tom as Mary Jane and Harry as our friendly Spiderman.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Series: Of Greens and Gold [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798438
Comments: 10
Kudos: 242





	In The Nick Of Time

"You're staring again," Ginny mentioned. "You're not even being subtle about it: what happened to keeping it a secret, huh?"

"Yeah– well, give me some credit, it's hard to not stare at someone who looks like a Calvin Klein model," Harry finally dropped his gaze, turning his attention to his lunch and poking the nuggets with his fork, distracted.

"He's staring at you."

A cold excitement rushed in. "Really?" He said, perking up.

"I'm fucking with you," Ginny smirked before bursting into laughter. Harry frowned, bemused.

"That's not funny," Harry said, shoulders sagging down in disappointment. "You're an ass– seriously, why are we friends?"

"Puh-lease, without me, you'd be a loner," Ginny said, nudging Harry softly. "Hey, who knows? Maybe if the time comes when Riddle ever needs saving, you can swoop in like the brave hero you are and sweep him from his leather shoes."

"I doubt Tom even needs saving, isn't he black belt in karate or something?" Harry questioned.

"I'm pretty sure, that's just rumors. Tom is too busy pushing his nose to a book to even consider—"

Harry wasn't listening to his best friend anymore, gaze slowly gliding to the tall form sitting a few cafeteria tables away from them. Tom was with his usual circle of friends, they were all conversing together except for Tom, who's attention was occupied by his phone with a pair of earphones attached to his ears– ah, the equivalent way of saying 'dont disturb me'. 

Tom's curly hair swept beside his face, hazel eyes narrowed down intently at the screen of his green phone. Harry hated how someone can be so utterly gorgeous without even trying.

Despite being so popular and well-loved, Tom was secluded and only interacted when he needed to, including his own friends. When they laugh, Tom never joined in.

Suddenly, Tom raised his chin, his sharp gaze meeting Harry's by accident, raising a brow as if to question what he wanted.

Harry's ears burned, turning away.

\--

Baker Street– Harry made sure to always pass by that street in particular every time he was in patrol. He already caught a dozen of criminals there, so it became a routine to visit it, just in case.

This time wasn't different, Spidey senses already tingling– _and no, it wasn't a stupid name, Ginny, shut up._

At the top of a building, his eyes automatically zoomed in to a tall person being cornered by a bunch of other men. 

It was Tom Riddle.

His mind drifted to the time Ginny joked about saving Tom, it was merely a joke but clearly the world was trying to be funny.

He jumped into the scene head-on, silently landing on his feet like a cat and webbing a man to the wall who raised his hand towards Tom. 

They didn't have guns, which made the task of incapacitating them even easier. His punches was enough to render them unconscious. Turns out having spider powers meant superhuman strength, he tested the waters by punching the door of his room and stupid, stupid mistake in his part. Now, there's a large hole visible for the world to see and the explanation he gave to Sirius wasn't exactly convincing. He really needed to work on his lying skills if he wanted to keep his secret identify, you know, a secret.

Slowly, he turned to Tom.

Turns out, he was already staring at Harry.

The unwavering eyes fixated on him made Harry's stomach thrum, a deep sense of pleasure and pride swirling. Tom stared at him, wide-eyed and mouth slightly opened, his usual neat hair was disheveled and his clothes was crumpled.

He didn't have time to discern what the expression meant, not when his senses rang up again like loud air horns.

Wordlessly, he disappeared from within the buildings. The memory of Tom's face still vivid in his head.

\---

  
In the middle of one of Harry and Ginny's hang-outs, while they were talking about Chemistry and the new teacher, Harry told Ginny about the incident regarding Tom.

To his amusement, Ginny, who was drinking cola, _choked_.

  
\---

The second time it happened, about two weeks since the first time, Harry was shook.

He didn't think saving Tom from thugs was possible the first time, he never considered the idea that it would perhaps happen a second time.

But there it went, Tom hitting someone's face by his bag, before another man grabbed his arms down, enabling him to fight back.

Once again, Harry jumping at the scene of the crime. 

He noticed, oddly enough, how the men didn't seem surprised by his appearance, if anything, they paled up and just stared at him before coming to the terms that yeah, they should probably start attacking now.

One was holding a crowbar, his grip was loose so Harry placed no problem of snagging it out of his hand. The other had a baseball bat, ready to hit him from behind but with his reflexes, Harry managed to bend down, watching the bat swing in slow motion.

As he watched the bat swing mid-air, he quickly grabbed the base of it without any consideration of his super strength and as a result, the bat blew up into wooden splinters. Oops.

The man basically gave up at that point, not even bothering to run or fight and simply took the punch Harry squared, this time, he made sure to slow down the impact in a way for the punch to be lighter.

This was definitely the first time these two men had robbed someone, they were sloppy, unsure of their actions and damn, was it easy to beat them down in a matter of minutes, like taking a candy from a baby. As if they didn't even wanted to do it in the first place or just didn't know how to.

"That was quite impressive," A low voice spoke up.

Oh right, Harry almost forgot Tom was here.

Turning to face him, he found Tom already smiling at him, gaze firmly glued to his. Feeling suddenly awkward by the undivided attention, Harry said. "Uh– thanks?" Instinctively, his hand moved to scratch his head.

Tom's eyes drifted to the movement for a brief second before they went back to his face, in a humorous tone, he said. "Is this the part where I say _my hero_?" He placed a hand on his chest as he batted his lashes, "Because I feel like I'm a damsel in distress right now."

Harry couldn't help but let out a snicker, "You are anything but a damsel."

Tom, curious, narrowed his eyes as he tilted his head to the side, "What do you mean?" He asked.

Oh shit. 

"Uh– nothing, I–" Abort abort abort abort, "Oh, uh, my Spidey senses are tingling again, catch you later, T– uh, stranger." _Damn it, Harry._

Webs flying, he disappeared again into the night.

  
\---

  
"You cannot believe what I just saw," Ginny said, leaning against the lockers while Harry placed his stuff inside, "Riddle just defended Spiderman."

Eyes widening in disbelief, Harry turned to Ginny, "What?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" She asked, cocking a brow, "Didn't you saved his life, like twice already? I think that's enough for a typical person to turn into a fan."

"Tom? A fan of Spiderman?" Harry shook his head, "Sounds like a dream I'd have."

"I don't know, he seems to really like Spiderman," Harry squinted at her, doubtful, so Ginny rolled her eyes, her mouth opening to continue, "Listen, at class, some guy was insulting you and out of nowhere, Tom swoops into the conversation and basically told the guy off, he said—" Ginny paused to clear her throat, making her voice as deep as she could, _"How about you shut your yap and find a better reason why you didn't do your homework again, Brian, the dog excuse is getting overused."_

"That doesn't indicate that Tom is a fan at all–"

"Oh please," Ginny waved a dismissive hand, "If you witnessed it, you would believe it. He also seemed kind of pissed off. Odd, ya think? Considering Riddle is usually known for being collected at all times."

He hummed, thinking. Tom was quiet, perhaps even too quiet, "It is strange." He murmured.

Ginny suddenly eyed his lips up, frowning, "You have a cut in your lips, it's bleeding."

"What?" Licking his lower lip, he tasted copper, "Oh. I've been biting my lips so much lately."

"Jeezus," She grabbed a chapstick from her pocket and swiftly handed it to Harry, "Use this, Harry– your lips are literally dry as the Sahara desert."

No matter how much he protested, Ginny pressed the chapstick onto his chest with a firm look, "Keep it. God knows you need it."

She left for her class. 

Harry had a free period, so he went outside the building to get some fresh air and perhaps also do his homework. He calmly walked around to wherever he was compelled to go until he felt something falling from the sky, instincts mildly turning.

He saw a notebook falling from the third floor of the school building. With long strides and nearly inhumane speed, his fingers touched it before the ground could.

Looking up, he doesn't see anyone, the owner was probably coming down the stairs to retrieve it.

Curious, he skimmed over a page, then another and another, still blank. Huh. He decided to turn it around and see what he could get.

Harry tensed up when he saw his name. Spiderman.

They wrote Spiderman's abilities in great detail, his immense strength, how he could shoot webs and use them as flying ropes, his flexibility and extraordinary senses. Harry almost felt flattered, they seemed like a big fan.

Until he noticed how much pages this stranger has written about him– so many words that Harry started to feel like he's reading an actual book written purely about him.

There was a page where it questioned how Harry got his powers, or the possibility that he could be an alien from outer space– the made-up theories were all pretty unique and so meticulous, Harry was starting to think that getting bit by a radioactive spider was kind of boring compared to what this person had delved from their imagination.

Pages all dedicated to Spiderman.

He even found some pages where the owner just wrote Spiderman's name over and over like it was the only thing they knew how to write.

One thing was clear, the owner of it was clearly obsessed to Spiderman, so much so that it was borderline unhealthy. Maybe Harry was ovethinking this, perhaps they were just an overly enthusiastic fan or–

Someone was approaching him. Harry quickly closed the notebook and saw someone– _Tom_ coming out from the exit.

Harry's jaw almost fell.

...No, Tom couldn't be the owner of this?

Or could he?

Once he arrived, Tom offered his usual smile, "I'm sorry about that, I accidentally dropped it while I was looking for my stuff. Should've been more careful."

"This...belongs to you?"

"Oh, that?" Tom shook his head, shrugging. "It belongs to a relative of mine, he placed it on my bag by accident."

"Oh," Harry nodded, passing it over to Tom. Right, like Tom would ever be obsessed with him.

"Thank you–" He paused, pointedly looking at Harry to introduce himself.

"Harry, Harry Potter." Harry quickly answered, "Tom Riddle, right?"

"The one and only," Tom said, tilting his head to the side. "I'm honoured to know you know my name, Harry."

"...yeah," Harry felt his body simmer and sweat. _Whipped_ , a voice from his head that sounded too much like Ginny said. His hand managed to find its way to his hair, a force of habit he really needed to stop.

Tom followed the action of his arm for a brief moment, his gaze suddenly going sharp and Harry felt like he was being scanned and revaluated from both inside and out. His chest burned when Tom's attention darted to his lips then back to his eyes again.

Then just like that, his face went back to normal, expression no longer serious. "I'll see you later then, Harry?" He smiled.

"Yeah, bye." _That was odd_.

  
\---

  
The third time it happened, Harry didn't even bother to react. 

He was too busy chasing after the people that was chasing after Tom. He was such in a hurry, in fact, that he completely forgot to put on his mask, his senses spiking up like the loud blare of a siren.

The adrenaline rush made him forget the cold damp of the rain, he hopped from one building to another, making sure not to slip as he took off from the rooftop to the next.

When Tom was eventually cornered down by a wall, Harry stepped on, unbeknownst that his mask was still off. He punched one guy up in the air, bouncing off the ground and crashing through a window just next to Tom, the teen quickly stepped out of the way, watching in amazement.

He did the same to the next man. 

Another tried to pounce on him from beside, but Harry grabbed him by the collar and basically spun him around to a nearby garbage can. 

Harry breathed in and out, heart pounding so much, the feeling ached. Despite already been in many brawls that left him with a broken tooth or a nasty pain at most, Harry still couldn't stop the nerves and adrenaline pumping in. It was exhilarating.

The sound of upcoming footsteps crept closer. Tom.

Oh shit, right– Harry had to hide.

He quickly ran towards an alleyway next to him and flew himself up into a roof, quickly placing the mask onto his head. Thankfully, Harry wasn't too nervous about getting caught by Tom or the other thugs, he was sure the street was dark enough to conceal and blend his face along the shadows of his surroundings.

Harry almost left, his job had been completed anyways. There was nothing left to do.

But he didn't. He stayed and peered his head down, seeing that Tom had followed him towards the alleyway too. 

The brown-haired teen looked around, face frowning as he tried to find Spiderman. He seemed irritated by Spiderman's departure, a mix of disappointment littering his gorgeous face.

Harry slowly crept from behind Tom, upside-down as he held onto a single web, the soles of his feet pressed together, "You should really stop finding trouble wherever you go."

His spoken words almost made Tom yelp, he swiftly spun around and blinked, before a smile spread on his lips, teeth showing, "Trouble seems to be the one finding me first, I'm afraid." He said, his curly hair was flattened and wet, "Is this the what? The fourth time you saved me?"

"Third actually."

"Good to know you're keeping count," Tom said, tone joking as his eyes glinted in amusement, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say I have a superhero stalker following me around."

"You think I'm a superhero? Most people don't think so."

"But you are," Tom assured, expression oddly serious.

Flashes of blue light encompassed half of Tom's face, while the other was covered by shadows. For a brief pause, they stared at each other, Harry drinking onto Tom's features, from the stubble of his chin to the curled lashes of his eyes.

"Can I at least have a chance to say thank you this time?" Tom asked, voice low and hoarse.

When he got no reply, Tom reached out to the hem of his mask, Harry slightly flinched once his fingers threaded close. Tom hesitated for a moment before finally grabbing hold of it, he draped it down slowly until he reached the tip of Harry's nose. 

He observed the exposed parts of his face, gaze lingering onto his lips the longest.

At last, hands gripping both sides of his face, Tom angled his head to the side and kissed him.

It was soft, featherlight and perfect.

Their lips moved together, Harry felt Tom gripped the back of his head to bring them closer, his nose softly brushing over Harry's chin. Every time Tom scraped his teeth on his lower lip, he shivered. The rumbles of thunder were nothing but background noises, Harry was too lost by Tom's warm touches, so warm unlike the rain that drenched both of them.

With a final kiss, Tom leaned back, rolling Harry's mask back down before he watched Spiderman disappear once again.

His lips tingled, a reminder, he knew.

  
\--

  
Tom waved him hello at the hallway, at first, Harry ignored the gesture, thinking he was just waving to someone from behind.

But then he kept on greeting Harry, even coming up to talk to him. The amount of attention he was receiving made him giddy, unlike Ginny, who found Tom's sudden shift of behavior very odd.

Though Harry didn't care, he was too happy to question it.

\--

  
Tom hated the color red.

And he imagined the reason for that was because his mother used to love growing the reddest of roses at their front yard, she placed them inside blue vases with white swirls spreading around the ceramic surface and displayed them throughout the house.

Right up until his father divorced her and she died from a broken heart.

Tom hated his mother, she died with those stupid thorny roses wrapped around her pruned fingers, as red spread across the water inside the bathtub she _died_ in.

Although it was different now. Much different.

Tom doesn't glance over a red flower, a red bus, a red stoplight and be reminded of the stupid tragic that was his mother's death.

No, he thought of a man flying across the building in a quick flash of red, his moves were swift, resilient and nothing less but beautiful.

He loved watching the videos posted on YouTube about a person who dressed up as a spider– although when he first heard of it, Tom laughed. It sounded quite obscene, too exciting, too undeserving for a city so incredibly boring. 

But he was so, so wrong. Since the first time he saw the hero fight a group of armed men, saving a stupid kid and lifting a school bus filled with twenty children by his own bare hands. That display of power and speed. His interest was _captured._

The first time Spiderman saved him. It was mesmerizing, he couldn't help but gape on each and every movement that was acted out of pure instinct and senses– or as he horribly called it, Spidey senses.

But Tom was greedy. He wanted to see his colors more. To be able to reach out and touch them.

So he hired men to play pretend. Each time, Tom watched the scenario unfold like a giddy kid watching their favorite cartoon, analyzing every detail and locking them to the safe confides of his head. 

Despite being confident and skilled with his fighting skills, Spiderman was surprisingly awkward once it came to interactions, even fleeing from a conversation because he felt embarrassed.

Spiderman also greeted him in a way like he knew him, and the fact that he almost called his name basically proved it. Tom was practically bursting from excitement to have finally realized this fact, from the tone of voice– he guessed Spiderman was young, he couldn't be that much older than Tom. So he made sure to keep alert, to find anyone remotely suspicious around him.

Tom created theories, bled into them, touched them, breathed them. In hopes that one day, the truth will come out.

Then Harry Potter came.

Harry was weird, sure, although not someone who really stood out from the crowd. He was a bit awkward, he seemed to only have one friend– Ginevra, or Ginny, as she preferred.

He previously suspected the teen to be Spiderman, he knew Harry looked into his notes, although decided against mentioning it. Rather than being weirded out like Tom expected, he seemed quite shock and nervous once he returned the notebook.

Still, he dismissed the theory– someone so ordinary as Harry Potter couldn't possibly be Spiderman.

All of his doubts disappeared by the time he finally kissed the hero himself. The feeling of dried lips and the continuous pattering of rain still consumed his mind. There was nothing to describe that memory but utter _perfection_.

Harry Potter was Spiderman.

He was so sure of it.

"Do you want to eat lunch together later?" Tom asked, ignoring the muted suspicion from Ginevra's face.

Harry's eyes brightened, cheeks flushing as his hand glided through the back of his hair– Tom found that particular habit of his adorable. "Sure!" He almost yelled.

If he got Harry Potter, then no doubt, he'll be able to catch a pretty red spider stuck by his own web.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to imagine in an alternate universe, where Tom never figured out Harry was Spiderman. He'd probably become a villain in the future just so he could lure Spiderman out to play– like Joker and Batman.
> 
> I was also planning on writing the scene with Flash and Peter, but just didn't.
> 
> Please let me know what you think, reading your comments really makes my day!


End file.
